June 11, 2009

Naive Surreal Titles (Series #15): Antique Ideas About Womanhood

In acontinuing thread that I call The Naïve Surreal—common, ephemeral titles
relating to subjects whose meaning has virtually no place outside its own era,
creating art in their otherwise forgettable and forgetting covers and design—come
these two examples relating to women and girls.There’s really not much to say about their contents, really—so much has
already been said.They’re just a standard
of their time.Things People Won’t Talk About (1937) is [sic] venereal diseases,
and is an appeal for actual public discussion (“the foolish secrecy surrounding
(the diseases) is what makes them so destructive”.

What
Every Girl Should Know
(1928) contains nothing I think outside what everyone would expect it top say,
except that it is rather well written, and also (in places) quite strongly
opinionated.The little pamphlet also
assumes that its readers already know its complaints:“the evils of self-abuse are so well known,
that there is no need to elaborate further on this point”.Its “chapter”
headings tell a lot of the story, and probably enough of it to make their
reading the only thing you need to read:“Know Thyself”, :Know Thyself Spiritually”, “Woman’s Mission”, “The Age
of Puberty”, “The Ovaries”, “Harmoul—its Importance”, “Rash Marriage”, “Freedom
and More Freedom”, “Lust and Love”, “The Value of Chastity”, “Buying Popularity”,
“Selling the Body for Clothes”, “The Tragedy of Dual Love”, Menstruation”, “Masturbation”,
“Promiscuous Sexual Intercourse”, “Gonorrhea”, “Syphilis”, “The Dreaded Third
Stage”.So. There you have it.